Sheila Eddy, 18, on Jan. 24, 2014 in Monongalia County Circuit Court where she was sentenced to life for the first-degree murder of her former best friend Skylar Neese.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia teenager has been sentenced to life in prison with the chance for parole in the stabbing death of her one-time best friend.

Shelia Eddy pleaded guilty to first-degree murder under a plea agreement in Monongalia County Circuit Court.

Judge Russell Clawges on Friday sentenced Eddy to life with mercy, meaning the 18-year-old Morgantown woman would be eligible for parole after serving 15 years.

Under the plea agreement, a kidnapping charge and two counts of conspiracy were dropped.

Star City 16-year-old Skylar Neese was lured out of her house in July 2012, stabbed to death and her body hidden across the Pennsylvania border.

Prosecutors say Eddy and friend Rachel Shoaf plotted the murder, though the motive has never been revealed. Shoaf awaits sentencing.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

A West Virginia teenager pleaded guilty to a first-degree murder charge Friday in the stabbing death of her one-time best friend.

Shelia Eddy entered into a plea agreement Friday in Monongalia County Circuit Court in the July 2012 death of 16-year-old Skylar Neese. Eddy's trial was scheduled to start next week.

Under the agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend mercy, meaning that the 18-year-old Morgantown woman would be eligible for parole after serving 15 years. In return for Eddy's plea, a kidnapping charge and two counts of conspiracy will be dropped.

Eddy, wearing glasses and an orange prison suit with her hair pulled into a ponytail, was visibly upset after entering the courtroom and her voice broke when giving short answers to Judge Russell Clawges, who then asked her how she pleaded.

"Guilty," Eddy said, her voice cracking.

Prosecutors say Eddy and another friend, Rachel Shoaf, lured Neese out of her ground-floor bedroom in Star City in July 2012, drove her to a secluded spot near the unincorporated West Virginia community of Macdale, then stabbed her to death at an agreed-upon moment.

Authorities said the girls covered the body of the University High honors student with branches when they couldn't bury her, and it lay in a wooded area across the Pennsylvania border for months.

The break in the case came in January 2013. Prosecutors say that's when Shoaf finally cracked and told investigators the truth — and where to find the body.

Shoaf pleaded guilty last May to second-degree murder and is awaiting sentencing. Prosecutors have said they plan to recommend a 20-year prison sentence for Shoaf and will oppose any move to have her sentenced as a juvenile. But she could get as many as 40 years under the law.

Prosecutors never divulged a motive. Shoaf told police the girls no longer wanted to be friends with Neese.

Though Eddy's name was no secret in the community, authorities didn't make it public until September, when they transferred her case from juvenile to adult court.

Skylar Neese was initially considered a runaway and no Amber Alert was issued to publicly notify people of her disappearance. Last year, the Legislature tweaked the state's Amber Alert process that had limited it to cases where a child is believed to be abducted. The revised law now requires law enforcement to relay initial reports of any missing child to state police, regardless if the person is a runaway. Amber Alert personnel would then decide whether or not to issue an alert.

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Shelia Eddy, 18, of Morgantown, W.Va., is shown Friday, Jan. 24, 2014, in Monongalia County Circuit Court. Eddy was sentenced to life in prison with the chance for parole after 15 years for her guilty plea to a first-degree murder charge in the 2012 death of Star City teen Skylar Neese. (AP Photo/The Dominion Post-Ron Rittenhouse)

Shelia Eddy awaits her motion hearing before Judge Russell Clawges in Monongalia County Circuit Court, Tuesday Oct. 15, 2013 in Morgantown, W.Va. Clawges ruled Tuesday that Eddy should remain behind bars as her case moves toward trial, now postponed to the week of Feb. 11, 2014. Prosecutors say Eddy and an alleged co-conspirator lured victim Skylar Neese, an honors student at University High School, out of her Star City apartment last summer, stabbed her for reasons that have never been clear and hid her body under some branches when they were unable to bury her. (AP Photo/The Dominion Post, Bob Gay)

Shelia Eddy, 18, of Morgantown, W.Va., is shown Friday, Jan. 24, 2014, in Monongalia County Circuit Court. Eddy was sentenced to life in prison with the chance for parole after 15 years for her guilty plea to a first-degree murder charge in the 2012 death of Star City teen Skylar Neese. (AP Photo/The Dominion Post-Ron Rittenhouse)

Shelia Eddy, 18, of Morgantown, W.Va., is shown Friday, Jan. 24, 2014, in Monongalia County Circuit Court. Eddy was sentenced to life in prison with the chance for parole after 15 years for her guilty plea to a first-degree murder charge in the 2012 death of Star City teen Skylar Neese. (AP Photo/The Dominion Post-Ron Rittenhouse)

In this May 23, 2013, photo, barber BJ McClead, whose daughter Hayden was a friend of slain 16-year-old Skylar Neese, poses outside Johns Barber Shop in Star City, W.Va. People in the small West Virginia town wondered for months about Neese. She vanished after slipping out the bedroom of her Star City home last summer, but few believed shed run away. The truth emerged when one of Neeses friends admitted plotting with another teenage girl to kill her, a revelation that shocked even police. (AP Photo/Vicki Smith)

FILE - In this October 2012 file photo, Dave and Mary Neese hold a photo of their daughter Skylar, in Morgantown, W.Va. When 16-year-old honors student Skylar slipped out her bedroom window, she had no clue that two girls she considered among her best friends planned to stab her to death then bury her in the Pennsylvania woods some 30 miles away. The murder plot has transfixed the West Virginia town. (AP Photo/The Dominon Post, Ron Rittenhouse, File)

This Thursday, May 23, 2013 photo, shows a poster for 16-year-old honors student Skylar Neese, in Star City, W.Va. People in the small West Virginia town wondered for months about Neese. She vanished after slipping out the bedroom of her Star City home last summer, but few believed shed run away. The truth emerged when one of Neeses friends admitted plotting with another teenage girl to kill her, a revelation that shocked even police. (AP Photo/Vicki Smith)

In this May 23, 2013, photo, barber BJ McClead, whose daughter Hayden was a friend of slain 16-year-old Skylar Neese, cuts a customers hair at Johns Barber Shop in Star City, W.Va. People in the small West Virginia town wondered for months about Neese. She vanished after slipping out the bedroom of her Star City home last summer, but few believed shed run away. The truth emerged when one of Neeses friends admitted plotting with another teenage girl to kill her, a revelation that shocked even police. (AP Photo/Vicki Smith)

FILE - This Monday June 24, 2013 file photo shows a memorial that the family of 16-year-old Skylar Neese, of Star City, W.Va., has erected at a remote spot in Wayne Township, Pa., where the girl was allegedly stabbed to death last summer by two girls she believed were her best friends. (AP Photo/Vicki Smith, Pool)